Journals and notebooks, fine papers and pens, inks and their ilks, a few other things, and the occasional rant

Monday, August 15, 2011

Monteverde Artista Clear Demonstrator Kit

I had noticed this Monteverde Artista Clear Demonstrator on sale at Art Brown's web site for some time, but only recently stopped by to pick one up. I love clear fountain pens, there's something really fascinating to me about seeing the inside workings of the pen as well as being able to tell rather than guess how much ink is left.

The kit includes a beautifully-designed box with a white satin-style lining that puts me in mind of a coffin (sorry, but it does!). There are 12 Monteverde ink cartridges in various colors included in the kit, as well as a twist converter if you want to use a bottled ink.

The pen is made out of clear plastic, with a lot of silver accents. The clip is pretty wide, and hooks easily so there's no fumbling with the fastening that leads to the pen falling out of a pen roll. The converter end is white, which adds an additional nice accent.

The Artista Clear Demonstrator has a medium nib, but it's not as wide as some mediums I've used and I find I like this line width, and the pen itself, quite a lot. The pen feels good in my hand, not to0 small or long, and for whatever reason I really enjoy writing with it. There's not as much skipping, although paper quality does have a lot to do with that, and I haven't had any dry starts indicating the nib is probably exposed to air and drying the ink. I am probably gong to have the nib re-ground to a stub, as I think that tip would go well with this pen.

If you are looking for a clear demonstrator to add to your collection then I would say this is a great choice, especially as it is on sale and there were about a dozen or more available a week ago.

2 comments:

I also love demonstrator pens, both because they show the inner workings and because they have a modern clean feel to them. Your comment that the box reminds you of a coffin cracked me up - I have had that thought many times about fine pen boxes.